


You Can't Pick Your Relatives

by delizabethl22



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU - Harriet, Drabble, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Harry Potter, M/M, Not Epilogue Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:12:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4293813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delizabethl22/pseuds/delizabethl22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been eight years since the Final Battle, and Ron and Hermione are finally getting married.  So, a trip to Harrod's department store is required.  Except she's not the only one in need of a gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can't Pick Your Relatives

Harriet glanced down the registry she'd been handed by the shop assistant. Hermione and Ron were getting married. Hermione had registered at Harrod's, mostly for linens, flatware, silverware, and small appliances. As one of a small group invited who had experience in the muggle world, it had fallen to her to make sure Hermione (and it was definitely Hermione, because Ron would never have registered at Harrod's) got what she wanted.

It had taken them _ages_. They'd started dating in the middle of the Last Battle, eight years ago. They'd been living together for five years already. Better late than never, but _honestly_. Harriet had a sneaking suspicion Molly Weasley had threatened Ron with grievous bodily harm if he didn't make an honest woman out of his girlfriend, probably in hopes of more grandchildren to spoil.

Harriet turned a corner in the crockery section, nearly plowing into a middle-aged blonde woman with an abnormally long neck.

"Oh, I'm so sorry--"

"Oh, no, my fault entirely-- H- _Harriet?_ "

"Aunt Petunia? What are you doing here?" Harriet asked, bewildered.

Aunt Petunia raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I'm looking at wedding gifts."

"I didn't think . . . *your kind* would appreciate anything from here," she sniffed, with a passable sneer.

"My friend Hermione's registered here. You might have seen her parents on the platform once? Both dentists," Harriet told her, striving to be polite and let bygones be bygones. The Grangers were her attempt to appeal to her aunt's love of all things normal.

"Oh? I'm buying Dudley's wedding present," her aunt informed her in turn, smugness rolling off her in waves.

"Oh, that's lovely! Give him and Piers my best."

It was Aunt Petunia's turn to look bewildered. "Why would I do that?"

It was clear to Harriet that she had moved into dangerous waters. "Well . . . I rather thought they made a nice couple," she explained weakly.

Her aunt's eyes narrowed suspiciously, threateningly. "Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked coldly.

"Oh, um, I saw them in the park together a few times," Harriet began, knowing there wasn't really any point in explaining to her aunt. She neglected to mention that they had generally been engaging in acts that could have - should have - gotten them arrested for public indecency. Her aunt relaxed slightly.

"Well, he's marrying a lovely girl, the daughter of one of your uncle's business partners," Petunia sniffed. "Such a _shame_ you're all alone, Harriet. Particularly in _your_ condition," she added snidely, glancing meaningfully at her niece's swollen midsection.

Harriet grinned. "I'm due in five months, actually," she commented, rubbing her growing bump fondly. Her aunt’s lip curled in distaste.

"A single mother? You _ought_ to be ashamed!"

"Actually, my husband and I will have been married four years this August," Harriet corrected, trying to sound polite instead of frosty. Her aunt looked taken aback before rallying, looking down her nose at Harriet.

"And what is it your husband does?" she asked disdainfully.

"He works for the government, very hush hush." Petunia pursed her lips again, clearly disappointed at the lack of anything to disapprove of.

"Harriet, there you are sweetheart. I'd wondered where you'd gotten to." Strong arms embraced her from behind, and lips brushed her cheek. She smiled and looked up at her husband, love clear in her eyes.

Petunia gaped at them. "You're married to _Snivellus?!_ "

"Hello, Petunia," Severus greeted her wearily, straightening. His right hand came to rest at Harriet's waist. Petunia looked like she was about to swallow her tongue.

"Harriet, dear, I think I've found the perfect wedding present over in linens. Have a pleasant day, Petunia."

"I knew there was a reason I loved you. Give Dudley our best, Aunt Petunia," she called over her shoulder as they escaped.

"Have you really found the 'perfect present'?"  
Severus snorted. "Of course not, what do you take me for? I did, however, find plenty in the baby section."

* * *

Ron and Hermione ended up getting a coffee maker. A month later, Dudley ended up leaving his honestly rather relieved bride at the altar and running off with the best man - Piers Polkiss. The guests were all devastated, Vernon in particular because business was going to suffer. Petunia sobbed into a handkerchief, cursing her niece. The bride wasted no time in enjoying her party.

Far away in Scotland, Harriet and Severus were dead to the world on top of their bed, napping during one of the brief periods when their twins, Daniel and Soleil, were both asleep. The day Dudley’s Christmas card arrived, relating their elopement, she was so smug, she didn’t stop grinning for hours.


End file.
